Overdue Conversation
by LilaJ
Summary: Andy and Rusty have a long overdue conversation about the move and his relationship with Sharon. Angst and some Shandy too.


It's been a while since I've posted a Fic. I'd like to Thank Kate for very kindly being my beta. This story Is not all Rusty and Andy. There Is a little bit of Shandy too. All reviews are welcomed and appreciated enjoy. LJ

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own any of these wonderful characters.

Overdue Conversation

Andy knew that this conversation with Rusty was long overdue; he could tell by the way the kid acted every time he was over at the condo. He really thought he'd made progress with the kid after his "dust up" with Molly Pace's car. It appeared lately that any progress being made was going two steps forward and one step back. To say it was wearing his patience thin would be an understatement but the kid was going to be such a big part of his life with Sharon, he wanted to make his relationship stronger with Rusty; not only for Sharon but for himself too. When Rusty approached him in the Department's corridor, he wasn't really prepared at that time to sit the kid down and have a long talk so he appeased his concerns with a few simple words and the offer of visiting the house together. After that short conversation ended, he knew it was time to sit down with the kid and lay all his cards on the table. Rusty needed reassurance; God knows most male figures in his life had been real dirtbags so he knew it was time the kid heard some hard truths.

The next day after they had all looked at the toxic mould disaster of a house, Rusty dropped into the murder room to meet Buzz about his vlog. He took the opportunity to approach the kid, awkward as it may have been. He took a deep breath and walked over to him. "Hey, Rusty."

"Hi, Lieutenant, I mean Andy."

"Listen Kid, I really think we need to talk about us all moving in together and my relationship with Sharon and answer any questions or doubts about me you may have. I think we both need this."

Rusty was looking all kinds of nervous and looked like he wanted to flee immediately. One thing he knew though was that if Andy was going to be a major fixture in his life, he owed it to Sharon to give him a better chance. "Um ok, Andy. Maybe you could come over tomorrow when Sharon's out with Gavin and Andrea having, I'm sure, one of their classic shopping sprees."

Andy laughed at that; at least the mood had lightened. "Although sometimes I get a matching tie to her Armani obsession so it ain't that bad. So about 2:00 tomorrow?"

"Sure, 2:00 is fine."

Andy thought there's that word again 'fine'; he's definitely picked that up from his mom. With an awkward nod he walked away

.

Thank God the squad wasn't on call on the weekend and he could actually do this. At least he had a few hours to go through some possible scenarios in his head. He knew he couldn't lie to the kid or make promises he couldn't keep; he's had too much of that in his very young life. He actually hoped the kid didn't mention it to Sharon because he didn't want her mind racing 100 miles a minute thinking about them while she was supposed to be having fun. He couldn't tell the kid not to mention it to her because he's learned his lesson about lying to her. It never ends well. The nutcracker and his injury just a couple of his lesser moments.

So the time had come to head over to the condo. To say he didn't yank on his earlobe a few times to calm himself down would be an understatement. He made his way through the parking garage and up the lift. As he was walking down the corridor towards Sharon's condo, his legs suddenly felt heavy. He stopped for a minute; he needed some Andy Flynn fearlessness. "Get it together, Flynn. He's not some dirtbag holding a hostage with a gun to their head, he's Rusty." And with that he continued on. He decided to be respectful and knock instead of using his key. He didn't want to startle the kid and he sure as hell didn't want to look like Jack just entering whenever he pleased.

Rusty opened the door after what seemed like an eternity when it was likely more like 30 seconds. "Hey, Andy, come in."

"Thanks, Kid."

They were both nervous. The room went quiet and finally Andy sat down on the sofa and relaxed a bit then Rusty did the same.

He decided just to be straight up. He might as well rip the Band-Aid off now. "Listen, Rusty, I have some things I'd like to tell you and if at any point you want to ask me something, go ahead and if you at all feel uncomfortable, I will leave. The last thing I want to do is make you feel uncomfortable in your own home."

Rusty was a bit taken aback. The man had offered to leave if he was upset. No man had ever thought about his feelings like that before so he offered Andy a _thanks_ and asked him to continue.

So here it goes Andy thought. He took a deep breath and began to talk. "Ok, Rusty, first of all I just want to let you know I would never, ever try to get rid of you. You are not in the way of Sharon and I. You are a big part of not just her life but my life now too. I understand that you have every reason not to trust me. God knows you've had some bad father figures in your lifetime already! I'm also not looking or expect you to think of me as a father figure. However if you ever need any help or advice I will be happy to help. I offer up to you no promises because, as life has taught me, if you can't keep them your word means nothing. You know somewhat of my past. 20 years sober as I've told you before doesn't mean I don't see myself as an addict anymore. One day at a time, that's how I live my life. Now you also know that Jack and I share a similar past but the one thing I did differently was sober up. Choosing the bottle over my family was never my finest hour and I will always regret that but I have worked very hard to repair my relationship with my kids and they have come to accept my failings as a father and have slowly but carefully moved on, given me another chance and I couldn't be more grateful. Your mother has played a very big part in helping me with that. He smiled to himself; just thinking about her made him grin. She did have the 'Sharon effect' on him and boy did he love it.

"I'm also not going to lie to you about my relationship with Sharon. As you may have heard, no doubt from Provenza, when your mum and I first met we couldn't stand each other. What you've got to understand, Kid, is IA is like the Bain of any cop's existence. When she started to follow us around like a hall monitor, it became worse. Words like Darth Raydor, the Wicked Witch and Ice Queen were thrown around a lot. Once the whole squad learned that she was only trying to help Brenda and us, we took it a bit easier on her. After all these years though, I realised it couldn't have been easy for her to deal with us but goddamn when her and I had some standoffs, I can't say I didn't enjoy them!"

"Wait! Let me stop you there. I don't want to hear about your verbal flirty standoffs with my mother!"

"Ok, Kid, fair enough. When she took over Major Crimes on our first case, I ripped into her. I just couldn't help it then instead of arguing with me, she cracked open the case and we talked it through together. At that moment I knew I'd have her back! See I've found over the years your mother has this way of calming me down by just a look or a brief touch. I can't explain it but to simplify it, I'm in love with Sharon and I want to build a life with all of us together. Just having her in my life has made me a better man. The one thing taking our relationship slowly has shown me is when she finally lets those walls down, she loves with all her heart and I gotta say I'm one lucky son of a bitch! So there it is, Rusty. Whenever you're ready, go ahead ask me anything. I'll let you process what I just said, make a cup of tea and let you think for a moment"

The look on Rusty's face was a mix of shock and awe. Andy made his tea and returned to the sofa with a bottle of water for Rusty. Rusty's reply was simple but precise. "Ok, Andy, three questions. One; are you having this talk with me just to make Sharon happy? Two; what makes you think I should trust you fully? And we will get to three in a moment.

Andy had just poured his heart out to the kid and he still had doubts. At this point he seriously needed to get up; he started to pace. He was trying to keep his temper in check. God if only he could talk to Sharon right now she'd calm him down. He ran his fingers through his hair and finally spoke. "Rusty, I don't know possibly what else I could tell you to understand who I am and what I want for all of us. I didn't tell Sharon about us having this conversation because I thought we could talk man to man. In some ways you've grown up a lot and in other ways I think sometimes you feel like that young kid that was left at the zoo! At some point in your life you've got to begin to let people in other than Sharon and Provenza! Whether or not you can is a different story. If you actually feel that I am not the man for Sharon or somebody you can trust than I'd rather save you the discomfort and walk away. I don't want to abandon Sharon. Jack has done that too many times before but, at the end of the day, our kids come first and if our relationship creates more problems than your happiness, in time Sharon and I will both come to accept that. I've got enough years in to retire to save Sharon the heartache of seeing me everyday." He sat down feeling defeated. God this kid could be infuriating. He didn't think this was the way this conversation would go. He couldn't look at Rusty; he had his hands on his forehead with his head bowed. A lesser man would have screamed and walked out but that wasn't the way to get through to the kid.

"Hold up, Lieutenant, you're telling me that you would put Sharon's and my relationship before yours? Why would you do that?"

Andy had a simple answer. "Love kid, love. How can Sharon be happy with me when you're not?"

Rusty was stunned to say the least. No man in his life had ever put him before themselves. "So what you're saying is Sharon and my relationship will always come before yours and you would sacrifice your possible last chance at happiness for me?"

"Pretty much, I know you probably won't believe it but I care about you too, Kid."

At that moment they both heard a rather loud sob come from near the front door. Neither of them had noticed but Sharon had walked through the front door. Too engrossed in their conversation, they didn't hear her. She heard them talking and decided to do a bit of eavesdropping. She didn't expect what she was hearing. Tears were running down her cheeks midway through their conversation as Andy was pouring his heart out. God she loved that man! And then when he admitted he'd put Rusty's and her relationship before theirs, she broke down. No man in her life has ever shown that they were willing to sacrifice so much for her. The thought of losing this wonderful man had her sliding down on the ground, leaning against the door and sobbing like a three year old who just scraped a knee.

The two men ran to the front door. Rusty spoke first. "Oh God, Sharon, did you hear all that?"

Andy crouched down on the floor next to her and took her hands in his. He finally spoke. "I'm so sorry you had to hear that, Sharon. I love you so much but, as we always said, family comes first."

Sharon couldn't stop her tears. She wrapped her arms around Andy like she never wanted to let go. Rusty just watched what was happening in front of him and it finally dawned on him. This man had just poured his heart out to him and all he could do was go on the defensive. It was clear that Sharon loved him with all her heart. He wanted to see her happy and if everything Andy said was true he needed to accept that and _finally_ put Sharon before himself.

Andy lifted his head up from Sharon's shoulder and asked Rusty for a moment alone with her. He picked her up off the ground and carried her to the couch. She wiped away her tears and tried to compose herself. "Actually, Andy, do you think Rusty and I could have a moment?" He nodded and she kissed him on the cheek. "Can you go pick us up some dinner while I talk to Rusty?"

"Sure I'll be back in about an hour?"

"Perfect."

Before Andy left, he made sure to address Rusty. "See ya, Kid."

"Bye, Lieutenant."

With that Andy was out the door. He didn't need dinner right now, he needed a meeting so he found the closest one. Whatever happens with Sharon and the kid, he would still maintain his sobriety. His kids and job meant too much to him not to.

Back at the condo, Rusty was a nervous wreck. He knew Sharon was about to give him the lecture of his lifetime and quite honestly he deserved it!

She stood up using the famous Raydor stance and the glare came out too. Boy was he a goner! "Rusty, I have two questions for you. Does my relationship with Andy make you feel uncomfortable and unwanted? And do you see yourself ever fully trusting my judgement that Andy is one of the good ones and I wouldn't bring him into our lives if I didn't believe he could be trusted? I thought after Andy's accident you two were getting along better. Take your time, Rusty. I know Andy and right about now he's not getting our dinner, he's gone to a meeting. His sobriety means a lot to him and a lesser man would have cracked under your scrutiny!"

"Listen, Sharon, what Andy offered to do for you and me here tonight was above anything I ever imagined! I believe him, I do!, I believe your judgement. I guess I just needed too much reassurance from him. He never let me get to question three."

"And what was question three?"

"In our new house can I have my own bathroom?"

Sharon didn't know whether to yell at Rusty or hug him. Her face lighted up with a smile and she went to hug him. "I suggest when Andy comes back you ask him that! And after dinner tonight, I'll be staying with Andy. We have some interesting topics we need to discuss too."

When Andy did walk through the front door, Sharon immediately ran up to him and whispered in his ear, "Rusty wants to ask you question three."

He quietly said back, 'I think I'm done for tonight, Sharon. I can't take another interrogation. I'm not a murderer but I think at this point the right to remain silent sounds good to me."

"Trust me, you'll want to hear this." She walked into the kitchen where Rusty was going about getting plates to set the table. "Rusty I believe you have a question to ask Andy?"

At this point Andy had his arms folded on the defensive. He honestly didn't even want to hear one more word out of the kid tonight but the way Sharon told him he'd want to hear it made him curious. "Ok, Kid, what is it?"

Rusty put his head up high and for once looked Andy straight in the eye, man to man like Andy said before. "In the new house, can I have my own bathroom?"

Andy was shocked. After all the crap the kid just put him through, that was question three? At the end of an emotionally exhausting day, he burst into laughter. It was infectious; they all joined in. Andy patted Rusty on the back and said, "Sure thing, Kid. You put me through the ringer today but can I take that as your sign of approval?"

"Yes and, Andy, thanks for your honesty and being there for Sharon and I. Now I'm going over to Gus' to give you two some time alone. I've done enough damage here tonight. Sorry Andy, sorry Sharon."

"It was worth it, Kid. We needed to come to an understanding and we have. Good night."

"Yeah goodnight, Sharon, Andy." With that he was out the door.

Sharon turned to Andy and said, "I've got two questions for you.' She hit him on the chest first. One; you'd really walk away for Rusty and my relationship?"

"Yes, Sharon, because I value your happiness before mine. Family comes first. I know you, you could never truly be happy without Rusty's acceptance of our relationship. So yeah I would. It'd hurt like hell but I would!" She couldn't help but go to him and hug him tightly yet again. "And what's your second question, Sweetheart?"

"Guess which shop Andrea dragged me into today?"

He looked at her and grinned. She ran down the hall to her room. He chased her and shut the door. "Ok, Sharon, let's see what secrets Victoria shared with you today!" A hint of a navy blue chemise could be seen. God he'd go through hell and back for that woman and he proved it today. Boy did he get rewarded for it!

The end.

A/N thanks again PT;)

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